


The Best Laid Plans of Fish and Flowers

by Ononymous



Series: Ferry Requests 2017 [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-17 06:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12359598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ononymous/pseuds/Ononymous
Summary: When Undyne realises her anniversary with Alphys is about to arrive, she pulls out all the stops to impress her. Perhaps one stop too many





	The Best Laid Plans of Fish and Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Original pitch: Undyne gathers flowers for Alphys and goes overboard with it.

"Crap crap crap crap crap!"

Undyne raced down the street, clutching Asgore's hastily scribbled note tightly in her hand.

"Crap crap **CRAP**!"

She found her quarry, and barely had enough self restraint to refrain from kicking down the door. The bell tinkled violently. The human owner was naturally startled by the commotion and the unexpected blue person in her shop, but she rallied admirably.

"Oh, w-welcome to Lily's Roses and Rose's Lilys. How-"

"No time! Anniversary! Forgot! Need flowers!"

"Ah," said Rose understandingly, "happens to the best of us, m'dear. What sort does he like?"

"'He'?!" Undyne glowered at her. "Never mind, gimme a sec."

She unravelled the paper. Which in turn unravelled into shreds. When you have claws, you have to take care when holding things.

"NGAHH! Dammit!" She took a few deep breaths. "Okay, calm down, you can do this. Give me flowers, please."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "What sort, m'dear?"

"I don't know! All of them!"

"One of each? That will be-"

"No, _all_ of them!" Undyne took a pouch and slammed it on the counter. "Humans like our coins, that should cover it!"

"B-but, how will you carry them?"

"Like _this_."

A blue streak blurred round the shop. Boxes and bunches of flowers assembled themselves in two tall stacks on the street. And then she hoisted them, one stack in each hand, like they were styrofoam.

"Thanks!" She grinned a grin of razor sharp teeth. Then she was gone.

Rose examined the pouch. On the whole, she preferred the fluffy gentleman with the horns, but judging by the large clutch of golden coins this young lady paid well. This should straighten up her debts with the Dutch Mafia, and she would never try to illegally cultivate Semper Augustus Tulips again.

Rose's experience was repeated all over town. A blue streak, a few panicked words, and sudden financial security for the foreseeable future, less the cost of ordering whole new stock. Meanwhile, Undyne had grown more confident as she procured each supply, totally blind to the look of shock on Asgore's face that mutated more and more into resignation as she returned from each shop. He had offered to help decorate their house for when Alphys returned from the engineering conference she'd gone to, and had suggested which flowers to get, the suggestion having been ignored in her haste.

"Wait a minute," she said several hours later, as Asgore collapsed into a chair that collapsed in turn, "there weren't any yellow ones! She's yellow! That ruins the whole thing!"

"I... told you... Undyne..." panted Asgore, "a trade dispute... means Ebott can't get any... daffodils or sunflowers. It's why I suggested... the purple ones. It would compliment her colour rather than match it."

"I guess." She shrugged, not really appreciating the colour theory Asgore was working from. "Still, it would have been nice. Hey, I'll go out and see if I can pick some yellow wildflowers! Stay there and don't move!"

"...okay..."

The town was spared any futher horticultural and economic turmoil that day, as Undyne headed to the forests on the outskirts. There were indeed wildflowers, but they were mostly white and green, and she had plenty of those colours already. Dammit, this was frustrating! Why hadn't she arranged this as soon as Alphys left? Oh yeah, Papyrus invited her to go rock climbing, that was fun. And then the Snowdin guards had asked if she could help set up their new kennel, and they had a wrestling match as a housewarming party. And then she caught wind Mettaton had upgraded himself and wanted a benchmark for how strong he now was and that took up most of Tuesday... She really needed to use the diary app on her phone one of these days.

It was late afternoon when she approached the far edge of the forest. And she hit the motherload. A group of golden yellow flowers in a cool glade. A mountain could be seen just beyond, but she wasn't focused on it. She checked her watch. Alphys would be home in two hours. No time to be timid. In a fluid motion she scooped up a bunch and raced home again.

Asgore had fled by the time she returned, a note of apology for the chair, and equipment and basic instructions for arranging what she had picked into something halfway decent. She still had half an hour, so for once she decided to show some caution and follow the instructions.

Twenty minutes later, Undyne carefully lowered the newly forged bouquet into the backup vase, the first vase having smashed when she went to the kitchen to get some water. As it rested in its new home, it seemed to quiver. Dammit, there must have been a bee or something she grabbed. She wasn't worried about stings, she and Alphys' scales were too tough, but it ruined the look.

" _Hey!_ Quit it!"

That did the trick. The bee clearly knew who was boss around here. And with time to spare, too!

"Undyne, I'm h-home-! Oh, m-my..."

Phase One had went off without a hitch. Asgore had worked his magic, as the mostly purple arrangements let the lizard stand out in the middle, drawing Undyne's eye towards her. Maybe that's what he meant about compliments.

"Happy Anniversary, Babe." Undyne casually examined her nails as if this had been all arranged a week ago.

"Oh, they're b-beautiful! You didn't h-have to do anything, I was g-gonna suggest we go out for something tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's Barrier Day, Alph. I'm not gonna have us crowd in on everyone else's fun. Besides, I have a cherry to this flowery cake. Ta da!"

She handed the vase over to Alphys, whose face lit up even more. This was perfect, they matched her face so beautifully.

"Oh Unnie, they're b-beaut-"

But her wonder vanished, replaced by shock and horror. A third screeching voice quickly explained why.

" _ **YOU!!!**_ "

The bouquet leapt out of the vase into Alphys' face. Undyne couldn't help but watch as the flowers seemed to limply smack Alphys on the face, as repeated stutter-filled wails of apology complimented the rant coming from the largest flower, which was clearly the ring leader.

"I promised them! I made them promise! I was done with this place! I was done with you guys! I was just minding my own damn business so I wouldn't break any more hearts! Did _they_ make her grab me like that to bring me back? Did _you_?! Haven't you done enough? Don't - _*smack*_ \- you - _*smack*_ \- have - _*smack*_ \- anything - _*smack*_ \- better - _*smack*_ \- to - _*smack*_ \- do?!!"

Alphys had initially raised her hands to block the blows, even though they didn't seem particularly dangerous, but as her assailant's tirade went on, she gradually stopped, continuing to stammer disparate laments with words like "didn't know" and "forgive" and "my lab". Undyne had seen that despondent look on her face once before, although at the time she hadn't known why. She hadn't liked it back then either.

"Okay, that's enough, bud." Undyne grabbed the flower with some difficulty.

"Oh don't you **dare** start talking like that smiley trash-"

" ** _I SAID ENOUGH!_** "

The flower froze, but glowered at her.

"I dunno what beef you have you have with Alphys, but I took you myself. Nobody told me anything. You wanna get mad, start with me!"

There was a nasty silence. "Nah. I can still kind of remember what it was like. I know I'd have regretted it. I might regret it again, one day, but I'm not hopeful. Just watch it in future. Hopefully there won't be a future."

Undyne had no idea what he was talking about, but decided not to think about it. Starting another fight after breaking one up wouldn't help salvage the evening. "So, uh, sorry I guess. Do you want me to replant you, or...?"

"Just the nearest soil, and then I'll be on my way."

Undyne complied, opening the door and allowing the flower to take root on the lawn.

"Oh, and you better not tell Frisk or Toriel or Asgore about this."

"Huh? How do you know them?"

But he had burrowed into the soil and vanished.

"Hey, Alph? What was that all about-?"

Alphys was still in tears and incomprehensible. "My fault" and "could have" and "so sorry" was all Undyne could make out. Asgore sometimes talked about how haste makes waste, and she couldn't help but feel she'd made a lot. With careful precision, she sat next to her girlfriend.

"Hey, Alphys, it's okay. He's gone."

This didn't improve the mood. She wasn't a poet at the best of times, and clearly didn't know which ones would be part of the minefield. Action would have to do. So she rested her arm around Alphys' shoulder. This seemed to stem the tide of tears at last, but for a while she was beyond words, breathing unsteadily. It was a good sign she huddled closer to Undyne. Eventually Undyne got up again to turn on the light, as it had grown dark, and turned back to see Alphys back on her feet, looking surprisingly defiant.

"...I c-c-can't tell you about it," she squeaked, even though Undyne wasn't about to ask, "I j-just can't. I was r-reviewing the notes and t-tapes in my l-lab, and I j-just thought of something, and F-Frisk c-confirmed it, b-but he doesn't w-want anyone to know. And I c-can't do that t-to everyone."

"Babe, it's okay, you don't have to-"

"B-but it's my fault. I have to f-find a way-"

"Enough." It was time for a little tough love. "Look, whatever's going on, I trust you to deal with it. You talked to Frisk about it, so you're not bottling it up like you used to. But if you're gonna talk yourself into depression I'm drawing a line. Let him go for tonight. You can worry about it later."

Her yellow body was mostly rigid, though her face was alive trying to decide how to feel.

"Would it help if I said I loved ya?"

For a split second this seemed to wound, but Alphys seemed to force that instinct away deliberately, and mercifully a ghost of a smile reappeared.

"I... I'll find a w-way someday. I won't give up. But for t-tonight... I l-love you too."

She was picked up before she even realised it. Undyne span round laughing, while Alphys held on tight, remembering that she was allowed to feel like this.

The scene was observed by a witness outside the window. Like Alphys his face was conflicted. A mixture of intense consideration, and a look that was very much like regret.

**Author's Note:**

> Original Pastebin Version: https://pastebin.com/Nme5hkEj
> 
> Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!


End file.
